Cafe Kitchen Decorating Ideas
If you're interested in designs that offer the casual, relaxed vibe of a local coffee shop or café, you can explore a wide range of café kitchen decorating ideas in Tuscan, Mediterranean, Italian and French themes, and borrow some of their welcoming, sit-down-and-stay-awhile spirit for your kitchen.
Design Finds That Work Every Time
See All PhotosOne of the trademark aspects of a café-style kitchen is the seating. For your café kitchen table, consider chairs that emulate the style of those you'd find in a traditional café — these will often feature seat and seatback cushions, as well as armrests, the better to rest a coffee-laden arm on while you leaf through the paper (physical or digital, whichever you prefer).
In addition to an eat-in style table in your café kitchen, you may consider banquet seating at a café-style bar, countertop or kitchen island. Seating for these features often comes in the form of barstool or high café-style chairs, convenient for adding when you have a preponderance of guests, and removing when you need room for cooking, food preparation or cleaning.
Another common decoration in café-style kitchens is the under-sink curtain. Convenient for disguising pipes or storage areas underneath your sink, under-sink curtains give you an opportunity to add color and visual interest to your kitchen design. Floral or plaid patterns or solids in bold colors can liven up your in-home café tremendously — and in a pinch, the curtains can even be used as an impromptu dishrag. Other fabrics are also commonly deployed to great effect in café-style kitchens, with curtains, tablecloths and pillows featured to add the same type of functional and stylistic benefits.
Café kitchen decorating doesn't have to be limited to accessories and fabrics, though — shelving is an aspect of the design that's core to the kitchen's appearance and function, but it can also contribute mightily to the decor approach. In café kitchens, shelving is often left open, a technique that allows cookware, glassware and dishes to be exposed. This serves a dual purpose — stylistic and decorative, because you'll have the opportunity to show off your favorite pieces—and functional, because you'll be able to reach up and grab them without the extra step of opening a door. As a related approach, many café kitchens will feature hanging ceramics, cookware or dishware — coffee cups hanging from a series of hooks, or pots and pans strategically arranged on a pegboard behind the sink are a common sight.